• Home
  • Shop
  • Cindi’s Speaking
    • Cindi’s Event Schedule
    • Book Cindi for Your Event
    • Cindi’s Speaking Topics
    • What Cindi Believes
    • Endorsements
  • Coaching Services
    • Coaching Credentials / Endorsements
    • Fees For Coaching/Consulting Service
    • Do We Fit?
    • Cindi’s Coaching/Consulting Options
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • Encouragement
    • Articles of Encouragement
    • Encouragement for Couples
  • About Cindi
  • Contact
Type and hit ENTER
  • Home
  • Shop
  • Cindi’s Speaking
    • Cindi’s Event Schedule
    • Book Cindi for Your Event
    • Cindi’s Speaking Topics
    • What Cindi Believes
    • Endorsements
  • Coaching Services
    • Coaching Credentials / Endorsements
    • Fees For Coaching/Consulting Service
    • Do We Fit?
    • Cindi’s Coaching/Consulting Options
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • Encouragement
    • Articles of Encouragement
    • Encouragement for Couples
  • About Cindi
  • Contact
GET CONNECTED
retina-image
cart
  • Home
  • Shop
  • Cindi’s Speaking
    • Cindi’s Event Schedule
    • Book Cindi for Your Event
    • Cindi’s Speaking Topics
    • What Cindi Believes
    • Endorsements
  • Coaching Services
    • Coaching Credentials / Endorsements
    • Fees For Coaching/Consulting Service
    • Do We Fit?
    • Cindi’s Coaching/Consulting Options
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • Encouragement
    • Articles of Encouragement
    • Encouragement for Couples
  • About Cindi
  • Contact
  • 0 Items : $0.00cart
Do you need a mentor through life’s changes?
Share
Mentoring women
Spiritual Growth

Do you need a mentor through life’s changes?

April 24, 2018
-
Posted by Cindi

Do you and I need a support system while going through life’s changes?

Absolutely.

For years, I’ve talked about how we each need a woman on both sides of us — someone on our right, who can help us further along, and someone on our left whom we can help along.

This morning I’ve asked my longtime friend and Mentoring Expert Janet Thompson to share with you her heart for mentoring. She will encourage you that there’s a spiritually mature woman out there waiting to mentor you, as well as remind you that there’s another woman out there needing  you as her mentor.  Sharing from her newest book, Mentoring for All Seasons, Janet will remind you that it was never God’s plan that you go through life alone.

Here’s Janet…

While chatting with several women at a church potluck, the conversation turned to menopause. The women were going through it and struggling with the changes in their bodies. I have to admit, I’m so glad to be on the other side of that season of life. My friends’ discussion of menopause symptoms brought back memories of never knowing how many nightgowns I was going to go through in a night or wondering if my face and neck would suddenly turn red and blotchy while speaking.

I also remembered a conversation I had with an elderly woman in our church about menopause when I started Woman to Woman Mentoring 20 years ago. In my new book Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness, there’s a chapter on mentoring during menopause! Here’s a sneak preview:

When I started the Woman to Woman Mentoring Ministry at Saddleback Church, an elderly woman said she felt the church let her down when she went through menopause. Someone in “the church” should have prepared her for the physical and emotional changes she would experience. Since I was a few years away from menopause, I made a mental note, because if this was so important to her, it must be a season mentoring should address.

Then I went through menopause! I called everyone I knew my age to see if what I was Mentoring womenexperiencing was “normal.” I finally found a Christian book on menopause, which I later gave to another clueless menopausal friend.

When I told this story to my girlfriends lamenting menopause, they eagerly asked if I still had the book?! I said no, but it’s definitely a season covered in my new book—a season where one woman can share from her life experience what helped her and be there to pray and encourage a younger woman going through “the change.” You’ll laugh, cry, and relate to author, speaker, and dear friend, Pam Farell, as she shares about her own midlife years and starting a “seasoned sisters” group.

Another friend, who shares in the book about being mentored during early parenting years, started a group called Menopause Maidens.

Menopause is not the only change we go through. Life is full of change in every season, but God has given us the tools to help each other through them. We just need to be willing to do what He asked of us in so many places in the Bible: reach out and mentor each other. I was incredibly blessed to have 65 women share mentoring stories—both mentees and mentors—in Mentoring for All Seasons. These women had experienced the blessings of mentoring and wanted to encourage other women that they can do it too, and receive fabulous blessings, as well! I also provide God’s perspective from Scripture to use in mentoring and tips on how to mentor and be a mentee in all seasons, along with sharing biblical M&M (Mentor and Mentee) relationships.

Many women become believers, but they have no idea how to live the life of a Christ-follower. Or they hit a difficult season and feel alone or distanced from God. You know this was never God’s plan. So we need a revival of women mentoring women!

Inquire about becoming part of a mentoring ministry at your church (or start one up of your own) and live out Scripture:  “He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, before you know it, he brings us alongside others who also go through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us” (2 Corinthians 1:4, The Message). 

Have you experienced the benefits of having a mentor  in your life? Have you had the privilege of being a mentor in someone else’s life? I (Cindi) would love to hear about it in the comment section below.

Janet Thompson is an international speaker, freelance editor, and award-winning author of 19 books.Her latest release is Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness. She is also the author of Forsaken God?: Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten, Dear God They Say It’s Cancer; Dear God, He’s Home!;Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter; Face-to-Face Bible study Series; and Woman to Woman Mentoring: How to Start, Grow, & Maintain a Mentoring Ministry Resources. Visit Janet and sign up for her weekly blog and free online newsletter at womantowomanmentoring.com.

April 24, 2018
6 Comments
Cindi
Cindi McMenamin is an award-winning author and national speaker who helps women find strength for the soul. She has nearly 35 years experience ministering to women and inspiring them to let God meet their emotional needs, grow stronger through their alone times, and pursue their dreams with boldness.
← PREVIOUS POST
10 Reasons I'm Thankful to be a Mom
NEXT POST →
Recognize and Reject Those Debilitating Lies

6 Comments

on Do you need a mentor through life’s changes?.
  1. Vicky Corey
    April 24, 2018 @ 6:06 pm
    -
    Reply

    I am so thankful I had my mom plus a wonderful Dr who helped me through menopause! I would have been lost otherwise. I went through it early and no one else I knew was going through it.

    • Cindi
      April 25, 2018 @ 2:16 am
      -
      Reply

      Thank you for your comment, Vicky. You were blessed to have a mom to mentor you through that, as well as a doctor. All the women in my family have had hysterectomies before menopause so their situations were unlike the normal hormonal changes I began to experience. Thankfully, I have quite a few mentors in my life whom I can call on during various seasons of my life. When we already have those relationships, our mentors are there when we need them. 🙂

  2. Edith
    May 2, 2018 @ 6:29 am
    -
    Reply

    Hi Cindi,

    Thank you for this wonderful message, I really thank God for the gift of the mother. Through my mom I learned to serve God because she used to support the church work and I would watch her, some evenings she would sing hymns and I used to love the way she sings.

    • Cindi
      May 2, 2018 @ 7:37 pm
      -
      Reply

      Thank you, Edith, for sharing that memory of your mom being your spiritual mentor. Because we all eventually lose our moms on this earth, we need to have mentors in other women, too, who are willing to stand in the gap and help guide us when we lose a mentor in our lives. Thank you for sharing.

  3. Jane Franson
    August 27, 2018 @ 10:42 pm
    -
    Reply

    I love your statement, “We just need to be willing to do what He asked of us in so many places in the Bible: reach out and mentor each other.” For years I was too “busy” to have close connections with other believing women. Eventually I had a complete breakdown, and broke down and admitted my absolute need for other women. I joined a local Celebrate Recovery, not because of drugs or alcohol but because I knew that the women there were completely real. That was two years ago and my health has improved by leaps and bounds, thanks in large part to the wonderful women who are now in my life.

    • Cindi
      August 28, 2018 @ 7:51 pm
      -
      Reply

      Thank you, Jane, for your testimony that further reiterates our need for one another in community.

Leave a Comment

Your feedback is valuable for us. Your email will not be published.
Cancel Reply

Please wait...
Submit Comment

Categories
Also Find Cindi on:

Cindi’s Books Also Available On:
kindlenook
5 More Ways to Let Jesus Shine Through -- From kee 5 More Ways to Let Jesus Shine Through -- From keeping your cool to watching your words, here are some simple ways to let others see Jesus in you... https://strengthforthesoul.com/5-more-ways-to-let-others-see-jesus-in-you/
5 Ways to Let Others See Jesus in You -- Now more 5 Ways to Let Others See Jesus in You -- Now more than ever the world needs to see who Jesus really is...and it can happen through you :) https://strengthforthesoul.com/5-ways-to-let-others-see-christ-in-your-life/
Trouble sleeping? These 3 prayers can help :) Scri Trouble sleeping? These 3 prayers can help :) Scripture says God grants sleep to those He loves. Say these prayers at night and sleep soundly in Jesus:  https://strengthforthesoul.com/3-prayers-to-help-you-sleep-better/
Fall in Love with God's Word in 2021 Fall in Love with God's Word in 2021
My Thanksgiving Gift to You - while it lasts -- Th My Thanksgiving Gift to You - while it lasts -- This weekend only, five of my popular titles are available for only $5 each, while supplies last. https://strengthforthesoul.com/shop/
7 Reasons to be Thankful -- Even in 2020 -- We've 7 Reasons to be Thankful -- Even in 2020 -- We've experienced loss this year, but here is what I believe God wants us to focus on so we can be people of gratitude: https://strengthforthesoul.com/7-things-to-be-thankful-for-even-in-2020/
Don't Worry - God's Got This -- Worried about your Don't Worry - God's Got This -- Worried about your finances, your future, the outcome of this election? Here is how God has it all covered...Read the post at: https://strengthforthesoul.com/dont-worry-gods-got-this/
4 Worries You Can Get Rid of Now - We should all b 4 Worries You Can Get Rid of Now - We should all be a wreck right now, but here's what God can do with what concerns you -- https://strengthforthesoul.com/4-worries-you-can-get-rid-of-now/
How to Be Pandemic Strong -- Here's how you and I How to Be Pandemic Strong -- Here's how you and I can offer hope to others during this volatile time in our communities and country... 
https://strengthforthesoul.com/how-to-be-pandemic-strong/
Where is Your Hope in a World of Crud? -- My hear Where is Your Hope in a World of Crud? -- 
My heart dropped when I watched last week's Presidential Election Debate, but then I remembered where my hope truly lies: in the King of Kings, not in earthly kings. God is still on the throne.  https://strengthforthesoul.com/where-is-your-hope/
If 2020 keeps beating you down here is 1 way to ov If 2020 keeps beating you down here is 1 way to overcome and start living more victoriously!
Here's something to sing about - even in 2020! I' Here's something to sing about - even in 2020!  I'd been ragging on 2020 for the past few months until God convicted my heart with this verse and thought... https://strengthforthesoul.com/heres-something-to-sing-about-this-year/
Follow me on Instagram

SIGN UP FOR CINDI'S BLOG

  • ABOUT ME
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright Strength for the Soul, 2018

Do you need a mentor through life’s changes? | Strength for the Soul